52 Notes on South African Hunting, 
Barutse Gifts. 
That night we lay by a grand fire and were 
lulled to sleep by the grunting of the hippopo¬ 
tami feeding in the river close by. 
As soon as the mist lifted off the river next 
morning we made a start. We expected to do 
the distance in about two days and a half; but 
the kindness of Mr. Watson had so laden our 
boys, that we ultimately took a little more. 
The path lay for some way along the edge of 
the river, and was so overgrown with grass 
and reeds as to make walking rather hard. 
After about a four hours’ walk, we halted out¬ 
side a small village and had our usual break¬ 
fast of coffee, biltong, and a little meal cake 
fried in fat. Soon the head man—-of course 
surrounded by his attendant heathens—came 
out to have a look at us, and we ingratiated 
ourselves by giving him the coffee dregs to eat. 
He, according to the custom of the Barutse, 
had given us a small quantity of meal on our 
arrival. This excellent custom of, I believe, 
almost all tribes who have not been contamin¬ 
ated by civilisation, is fast degenerating into a 
species of barter among the Barutse. They 
bring you out some eatables, which you may 
